﻿All Cages in my Birdroom have LED Lights﻿

After breeding foreign birds for over 40 years with the incumbent costs of heating and lighting because of out season breeding along with the ecological questions regarding our planet. I set out to help in a small way. Most of us recycle our household waste as we are advised to help protect our planet. Lighting will change over a period of ti﻿﻿me the incandescent lights will eventually be replaced with LED lights in all their forms the street lights in our area are already being changed.

With this in mind I sat down to work out a way to manage my birds in a similar fashion. My objectives were:

Not to use chemicals - I now use natural remedies there are many companies available to supply them.

To feed organically grown products - This was more difficult, my supplier has "Organic Certification"

Cage Floor cover - I have changed from "wood products" to a natural microporous product called "Zeolite" produced from volcanic rock with an absorption rate of 7 times its own weight it is used in water purification, cat litter to disperse unwanted odours such as ammonia.

Heating - Reduce volume of power used by using more efficient heaters

Lighting - The project I carried out shocked me, all the information I gained is on other pages of this website. The bottom line was LED lighting is so environmentally friendly it is hard to believe, a side benefit is they cost about 25% of traditional lighting to run that's some saving. They do not heat the cages usually an unwanted bi-product of lighting cages with tubes etc. LED lights will be compulsory by 2017 according to the information I have read. I believe I have succeeded in a small way but most importantly it benefits my birds and makes their environment cleaner and more friendly

Hooded Siskin
(carduelis magellicana)

carduelis magellicana Hooded Siskins are very common and widespread Siskins throughout the most of the South America. Each one of the eleven subspecies is native to different parts of the South American continent and in some they overlap. They are easy to keep and breed and are very hardy, providing that they have a varied diet including supplements. Hooded Siskins are 10 to 14 cm in length. The male is largely green above and yellow below with a black head. It has a narrow yellow collar and a yellow rump. The tail is black with yellow sides to the base and the wings are black with a broad yellow band. Females are duller with a green-brown head, yellow-green breast and sides and a whitish belly. Juvenile resemble females with duller colours the head and upper-parts are buffish-olive finely streaked. The main fault with poor husbandry in these siskins is the bleeding of the black mask it should have a crisp line without black feathers down the breast. The twittering song may be uttered from a perch or in flight. It is varied and fast and sometimes contains imitations of other birds.

BreedingThese finches like all other species need to be healthy and you will not have long to wait for them to attempt to breed. I have successfully bred these birds for many years. Courtship is aggressive with a lot of chasing, this is normal and helps to bring the hen into condition if the cock is not chasing the hen you will probably end up with clear eggs. The nest is built by the hen she will build in open canary type nests or in my preference, external nests which are easier to manage when checking and ringing the chicks I always use closed IOA rings. I use sisal rope nest linings. I don't use felt linings as the hen will pick it apart the fibres can wrap around legs or toes and they can lose them. Incubation is between 13 and 14 days "Close Ringing" with "B" size rings takes place between 3 and 5 days. Hens do not sit tight and will leave the nest for longer periods daily and by 12 days they don't usually sit at all. Temperature and light in the birdroom during breeding is paramount. I keep them constant at 70 degrees and 15 hours of light. The young birds are fed by both parents until they fledge at about 35 days it is then safe to move to move them to their own cages, by this time the hen will be sitting on her next round

Hooded Siskin
(carduelis cucullata)

carduelis cucullataThe Red Siskin (Carduelis cucullata) is a small passerine bird. This finch is a resident breeding bird in tropical South America in northern Colombia and northern Venezuela. The introduced population on Trinidad is believed to be extinct, with no sightings since 1960.

Some hope has been given to this highly endangered species by the discovery in 2003 of a population of several thousand birds in southern Guyana, 1000 km from any previously known colony. Otherwise the world population is believed to be between 600-6000 pairs.

It is the only Siskin that has a natural red colouring in its plumage. Its size is about 10 to 12cm. Since the birds come from a tropical area they will breed several times the whole year around depending on food supplies and suitable housing conditions. This can be replicated in captive breeding.

The Red Siskin is found in open country, forest edges and grassland with trees or shrubs. The female usually lays 3 to 4 greenish white eggs in a grassy cup nest in a tree. It was common in the early twentieth century, occurring throughout the foothills of northern Venezuela but has now become extremely rare in a fragmented range.

The male is mainly deep red, with black on the head, throat, flight feathers and tail tip, and a whitish lower belly and undertail. The female is grey on the head, breast, and upperparts, apart from a red rump and uppertail. The breast is grey with reddish flanks, and the rest of the underparts, the wings and tail resemble the corresponding areas of the male. Immature females are paler than the adults, and immature males are brown rather than red.

Red Siskins eat seeds mainly, and are highly gregarious. When they were more numerous they formed semi-nomadic flocks.

The downfall of this siskin has been massive illegal trapping for the cage bird trade. This is an attractive finch with a pleasant song, and its unique colouration for a small finch, has led to it being used for interbreeding with domesticated Canaries to produce varieties with red in the plumage.

BreedingThese finches like all other species need to be healthy and you will not have long to wait for them to attempt to breed. I have successfully bred these birds for many years. Courtship is aggressive with a lot of chasing, this is normal and helps to bring the hen into condition if the cock is not chasing the hen you will probably end up with clear eggs. The nest is built by the hen she will build in open canary type nests or in my preference, external nests which are easier to manage when checking and ringing the chicks I always use closed rings. I use sisal rope nest linings. I don't use felt linings as the hen will pick it apart the fibres can wrap around legs or toes and they can lose them. Incubation is between 13 and 14 days "Close Ringing" with "B" size rings takes place between 3 and 5 days. Hens do not sit tight and will leave the nest for longer periods daily and by 12 days they don't usually sit at all. Temperature and light in the birdroom during breeding is paramount. I keep them constant at 70 degrees and 15 hours of light. The young birds are fed by both parents until they fledge at about 35 days it is then safe to move them to their own cages, by this time the hen will be sitting on her next round

DietInternational breeders and manufacturers have developed special mixtures of seed for these birds (Hooded Siskin Mix). It is important that the seed is high quality. There are several propriety brands they mix a good variation of small seeds which should include Grass, Niger, Perilla. I do not feed individual seeds separately because the birds will only eat these and not get a good mixture, they will eat live food, fruit, greens. absolutely essential is egg food. I have replaced soak seed with Perle Morbid it gives all the goodness without the bacterial infections that are possible with soak seed. They are not fussy eaters but with any changes introduce anything new over a period of time. When buying birds a good breeder will supply you with a couple of weeks seed.